Story Search Results

Meet the Neighbours - Sudbury Hall #79

Continuing the series on neighbouring houses to Hoar Cross Hall, let me introduce you to Sudbury Hall, which is about 7 miles away and on the border of Staffordshire and Derbyshire.  The manor of Sudbury was listed in the Doomsday Book following the Norman conquest in 1086, so a lot older than the Hall, and is a Grade I listed building.  The Vernon family came to Sudbury after a 16th century marriage between Sir John Vernon, from Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, and the Sudbury heiress, Ellen Montgomery.  It seems the Vernon family have stayed in the Hall for generations right up until the 20th century when the 10th Baron Vernon transferred the Hall and its princip...

Meet the Neighbours - Alton Towers #82

...owing the Norman conquest, in the village of Alton, Staffordshire, about a mile from the present-day Alton Towers.  Over the centuries the manorial estate was given to knights who fought in the Crusades as a reward for their hard work.  In 1406, Sir John Talbot acquired the estate when he married Maud, the eldest daughter of the 3rd Baron Furnivall.  Talbot then became the second created Earl of Shrewsbury in 1442.  Sadly, the castle was destroyed during the English Civil War. A painting of Alton Towers in 1880   Moving on a few centuries to the 17th century, the former castle was redeveloped and turned into a hunting lodge.  The house was three sto...

A Home fit for a King #21

...after the Norman conquest, William the Conqueror. The site was eventually bequeathed to the monks of Westminster Abbey. In 1531, Henry VIII acquired the Hospital of St James, which became St James' Palace and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey. These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier. Although it seemed to be a very glamorous place to live it apparently had a few design faults and only the state rooms were gilded and colourful. It was reported that the chimneys smoked so much that the fires had to be damped down th...

Home fit for a King #53

...after the Norman conquest, William the Conqueror. The site was eventually bequeathed to the monks of Westminster Abbey. In 1531, Henry VIII acquired the Hospital of St James, which became St James' Palace and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey. These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier. Although it seemed to be a very glamorous place to live it apparently had a few design faults and only the state rooms were gilded and colourful. It was reported that the chimneys smoked so much that the fires had to be damped down th...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history! #14

...HOAR CROSS HALL - A BIT OF HISTORY:  Due to many requests asking about the history of the house, this week I'm taking a break from my family's story to look back a few hundred years of what happened before we lived there!     Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers.  The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross.  This was quite a large house built on a hill near Yoxall (which is the village next to Hoar Cross).  In 1740 the manor house was demolished...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #15

...HOAR CROSS HALL - A BIT OF HISTORY :         Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers.  The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross.  This was quite a large house built on a hill near Yoxall (which is the village next to Hoar Cross).  In 1740 the manor house was demolished and later the Hon. Charles Talbot bought the estate for £17,000.  Eventually it was sold to Hugo Meynell, who already owned huge amounts of property all over the county. This br...